Republicans in the Louisiana House of Representatives on Wednesday failed to override the Democratic governor’s veto of a bill that banned biological males from competing in women’s sports.
The Daily Caller reported that state House Republicans were just two votes short of the necessary number to override Gov. John Bel Edwards’ (D-LA) veto.
“Louisiana’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act would have prohibited biological males from participating in female intercollegiate, interscholastic, or intramural athletic sports that receive state funding,” the Caller reported. “The state House voted 68-30 Wednesday on the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, failing to overturn Democratic Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto by just two votes of the 70 needed. It was the state’s first-ever veto override session, the Advocate reported, intended to override Edward’s veto of both the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act and a bill allowing the concealed carry of guns without a permit.”
The bill had previously passed the state House in a 78-19 vote and the state Senate in a 29-6 vote, but the governor vetoed it, saying at the time that the bill was “a solution in search of a problem that simply does not exist in Louisiana.”
State Sen. Katrina Jackson, a Democrat, previously supported the bill when it came up for a vote in the state Senate, but did not support the override vote because the bill did not keep biological women from competing in men’s sports.
“The current LHSAA policy is more restrictive and allowing this bill to move forward would have undermined current rules,” Jackson and other Democrats said in a joint statement released Wednesday.
As The Daily Wire reported in late June, Edwards vetoed the bill, saying it was unnecessary.
“As I have said repeatedly when asked about this bill, discrimination is not a Louisiana value, and this bill was a solution in search of a problem that simply does not exist in Louisiana,” Edwards said in a statement. “Even the author of the bill acknowledged throughout the legislative session that there wasn’t a single case where this was an issue.”
“Further, it would make life more difficult for transgender children, who are some of the most vulnerable Louisianans when it comes to issues of mental health. We should be looking for more ways to unite rather than divide our citizens,” he continued. “And while there is no issue to be solved by this bill, it does present real problems in that it makes it more likely that NCAA and professional championships, like the 2022 Final Four, would not happen in our state. For these and for other reasons, I have vetoed the bill.”
As the Caller reported, Louisiana “has only seen two successful overrides in the history of the state: one in 1991 when lawmakers overrode former Republican Gov. Buddy Roemer’s veto of a bill penalizing doctors for performing abortions, and one in 1993 when lawmakers overrode former Democratic Gov. Edwin Edwards’ veto of the attorney general’s annual budget.”